Vallecito ( Spanish for "Little Valley") is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in Calaveras County,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The population was 442 at the 2020 census, exactly the same as at the 2010 census. The town is registered as California Historical Landmark #273. Nearby is Moaning Cavern, the largest

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

chamber in California, which the

Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...

Indians used as a burial ground.

History

Vallecito was one of California's important early-day mining towns.

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

was discovered here by the Murphy brothers in 1849, and it was originally called "Murphys Diggings," which became "Murphys Old Diggings" when they moved on to greener pastures at "Murphys New Diggings" (which became the town of Murphys). The town was revitalized in 1852 when extremely rich deposits of gold were discovered running practically through the center of town. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established in 1854, which is still in use today. The Vallecito Bell, cast at

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

in 1853, was brought around Cape Horn. It was purchased from the ship with funds contributed by early-day residents and brought to Vallecito to be erected in a large oak tree in 1854. It was used to call the people together until February 16, 1939, when a severe wind blew the old tree down. The first post office opened in 1854 as Vallicita; the town's name was changed to Vallecito in 1940.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

Vallecito first appeared as a

census designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the 2000 U.S. Census.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Vallecito had a population of 442. The population density was . The racial makeup of Vallecito was 380 (86.0%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 3 (0.7%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 10 (2.3%) Native American, 2 (0.5%) Asian, 1 (0.2%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 12 (2.7%) from other races, and 34 (7.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 31 persons (7.0%). The whole population lived in households. There were 167 households, out of which 28 (16.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 92 (55.1%) were married-couple households, 9 (5.4%) were cohabiting couple households, 31 (18.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 35 (21.0%) had a male householder with no partner present. 38 households (22.8%) were one person, and 26 (15.6%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.65. There were 114 families (68.3% of all households). The age distribution was 100 people (22.6%) under the age of 18, 27 people (6.1%) aged 18 to 24, 97 people (21.9%) aged 25 to 44, 106 people (24.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 112 people (25.3%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 44.6years. For every 100 females, there were 116.7 males. There were 191 housing units at an average density of , of which 167 (87.4%) were occupied. Of these, 126 (75.4%) were owner-occupied, and 41 (24.6%) were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the state legislature, Vallecito is in , and . Federally, Vallecito is in .

References

External links

* {{authority control Census-designated places in Calaveras County, California California Historical Landmarks Census-designated places in California